Ku Cheng-kang or Gu Zhenggang (; 30 April 1902 – 11 December 1993) was a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

politician, scholar and ranking member of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

in service to the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northea ...

Biography

Ku Cheng-kang was born in

Anshun Anshun () is a prefecture-level city located in southwestern Guizhou province, southwest China, near the Huangguoshu Waterfall, the tallest in China. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 2,297,339. The city proper had a population o ...

Guizhou Province Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

during the late

Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. He had an older brother , and a younger brother Ku Cheng-ting. Ku attended school in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

where many of the

's elite were also educated. He obtained his bachelor's degree from

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (german: link=no, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established ...

. In 1924, whilst still a student, Ku and his younger brother joined the

. In 1925, the two brothers traveled to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

to continue their studies at

Moscow Sun Yat-sen University Moscow Sun Yat-sen University, officially the Sun Yat-sen Communist University of the Toilers of China, was a Comintern school, which operated from 1925–1930 in the city of Moscow, Russia, then the Soviet Union. It was a training camp for ...

, a

comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

school. The brothers returned to China in 1926. In 1928, they fell in with

Chen Gongbo Chen Gongbo (; Japanese: ''Chin Kōhaku''; October 19, 1892 – June 3, 1946) was a Chinese politician, noted for his role as second (and final) President of the collaborationist Wang Jingwei regime during World War II. Biography Chen Gongbo w ...

and

Ku Meng-yu Ku Meng-yu () was a politician in the Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republ ...

to form the Reorganization Clique (zh: 国民党改組同志会, 改組派), one of many Kuomintang factions. In 1931, Ku caught the eye of

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

who ordered him to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

to participate in party organization activity. Later in the year with the

Mukden Incident The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, known in Chinese as the 9.18 Incident (九・一八), was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria. On September 18, 1931, L ...

, Chiang began consolidating the party factions and in December, Ku was elected to the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang. In December 1934, Ku was appointed as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Industry and in 1935, he secured a promotion to serve as Vice Minister of the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee. In 1937, with the outbreak of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Thea ...

, he was appointed Deputy Minister of the 5th National Government Military Commission. In June 1938, he served as interim secretary for the Society of the Three People's Principles Youth League and was also made the group's Central Executive Officer. In addition, he served as KMT Chairman and party boss for

Zhejiang Province Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jian ...

Minister of Social Affairs

In November 1939, Ku was appointed as the Minister of Social Affairs and was placed in charge of all wartime social welfare projects. In 1940, the ministry was reorganized into the National Social Department where Ku continued to serve as Minister of National Government Social Affairs, a position he held until March 1949. In 1941, Ku was in charge of casualty processing during the Japanese bombing of

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Cou ...

and in 1944, he was in charge of Chinese military and civilian casualties on the Guangxi,

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

warfronts. In 1945, Ku was elected to the Chinese Kuomintang Central Executive Committee and the 6th Standing Committee. He also served as Chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang Central Committee of agricultural workers. In 1947, he began involvement with

Chen Lifu Chen Lifu or Ch'en Li-fu (; 21 August 1900 – 8 February 2001) was a Chinese politician and anti-communist of the Republic of China. Chen was born in Wuxing, Zhejiang, China (modern Huzhou). In 1925, Chen formally joined Kuomintang (KMT) in Sa ...

Fang Chih Fang Chih or Fang Zhi (; 23 November 1895 – 28 March 1989), courtesy name: Xikong (希孔), was a politician, provincial governor, diplomat, author and a high-ranking Kuomintang official of the Republic of China. Family history and early l ...

and the

CC Clique The CC Clique (), or Central Club Clique (), was one of the political factions within the Kuomintang (The Chinese Nationalist Party), in the Republic of China (1912–49). It was led by the brothers Chen Guofu and Chen Lifu, friends of Chiang Kai ...

and became active in the Shanghai political scene. Ku retreated with the nationalists to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

in 1949.

Anti-communist activities in Taiwan

In January 1950, Ku was appointed

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. He served as Director of the Mainland Disaster Relief Organization together with

. Together with Fang, Ku set up the

Free China Relief Agency The Chinese Association for Relief and Ensuing Services (also known as the CARES) (), formerly the Free China Relief Association (), is a non-governmental organization headquartered in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). The organization specializ ...

, and the Sino-Laotian Friendship Society and the ROC branch of the Asian People's Anti Communist League. The pair were active in South Korea, Vietnam, Burma, Laos, Camboadia and Thailand on various KMT special projects. In 1951, he was appointed as a presidential adviser and in 1952, he was elected to the 7th Standing Committee. Ku died on 11 December 1993 in Taipei at the age of 91.

Marriage and descendants

Ku married and had five children: * Ku Chia-tai (zh: 谷家泰) * Ku Chia-hua (zh: 谷家華) * Ku Chia-sung (zh: 谷家嵩) * (zh: 谷秀衡) - She went on to become director of Taiwan Cyanamid Company * Ku Chia-heng (zh: 谷家恒)

Literary works

* ''The following is an incomplete list of the literary works of Ku Cheng-kang'' * ''Ku Cheng-kang 谷正綱編，世盟重要文獻，台北市：世界反共聯盟中華民國分會，1967年'' * ''Ku Cheng-kang 谷正綱，發揚胞愛精神團結反共力量，台北市：中國大陸災胞救濟總會，1973年'' * ''Ku Cheng-kang "Expose and Destroy Peiping's "Peaceful Unification" Intrigue", World Anti-Communist League, China Chapter, 1979, Taipei.'' * ''Ku Cheng-kang "The 12th welfthC.C.P. Congress and the Future of Teng's Line", World Anti-Communist League, China Chapter, 1982, Taipei.'' * ''Ku Cheng-kang 谷正綱，為人類自由而奮鬥：世盟榮譽主席谷正綱博士言論選集，世盟榮譽主席谷正綱言論選集編委會，1985年''

References

{{Authority control Kuomintang politicians in Taiwan People from Anshun People of the Chinese Civil War Chinese anti-communists Government ministers of China 1902 births 1993 deaths Moscow Sun Yat-sen University alumni Chinese Civil War refugees Taiwanese people from Guizhou Taiwanese Ministers of the Interior Senior Advisors to President Chiang Kai-shek Republic of China politicians from Guizhou 20th-century Taiwanese politicians